Huawei warns consumers will pay if it is blocked from 5G

Chinese communications giant Huawei has launched a political blitz to shore up support against attempts to stop it providing equipment to Australia’s 5G mobile networks, warning every federal MP of higher prices for consumers if the ban goes ahead.

In a dramatic escalation of the dispute over Chinese technology, the company has assured MPs from across all major parties that it is willing to undergo “evaluation and testing” by security agencies to prove it can be trusted.

The move comes as federal parliament prepares to vote on two bills intended to curb foreign interference in Australia, heightening concerns over Chinese access to the heart of the new mobile networks.

Fairfax Media understands the national security committee of federal cabinet has not considered a formal proposal to block Huawei from bidding for the 5G projects but key agencies have similar concerns to those that saw the company barred from the national broadband network in 2012.

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Huawei Australia has written to all federal MPs to tell them the company had already increased competition and could do the same in keeping costs down in building the 5G networks.

“Increased competition not only means cheaper prices but most importantly better access to the latest technologies and innovation,” it says in the letter sent on Friday.

“We are a private company, owned by our employees with no other shareholders. In each of the 170 countries where we operate, we abide by the national laws and guidelines. To do otherwise would end our business overnight.”

Security agencies fear the company is too close to the Chinese government and the Communist Party, creating a risk of “back doors” being built into the 5G networks to give Chinese authorities access to communications.

The letter from Huawei Australia was signed by chairman John Lord, a former rear admiral in the Royal Australian Navy, and two directors: former Victorian Labor premier John Brumby and former Aurizon chief executive Lance Hockridge.

In the latest example of tensions over Huawei, the federal government stepped in to offer $200 million in aid funding to the Solomon Islands to build an undersea cable to step up the nation’s internet access, blocking a Chinese offer using Huawei.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has refused to go into detail on any questions about Huawei in recent weeks, citing national security.

Fairfax Media revealed in March that the government was preparing to block Huawei but the decision could have a flow-on effect in the cost to Telstra, Optus and Vodafone in building the 5G networks.

Top US officials told Mr Turnbull in Washington DC in February of their concerns about allowing Huawei to build sensitive networks, but the Prime Minister’s message to the US was that their own technology companies were struggling to keep up with their Chinese rival.

The New Zealand government has not blocked the company and the British have allowed it to build a new network for national telco BT, subject to the Huawei code being checked line-by-line by experts from Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), a peak intelligence agency.

The Huawei directors say in their letter to MPs that the company has hosted visits from security departments from the UK, Canada and New Zealand to settle any concerns.